Even the smallest of gestures can make an attendee with disabilities feel seen. It’s one of many valuable lessons that fashion retailer Primark learned while planning a fully accessible launch event for the debut of its new 49-piece adaptive clothing range.
To support attendees with an array of needs, the brand ensured every detail of the Jan. 20 event was anchored in delivering the most seamless, inclusive experience possible. From securing an accessible venue (Protein Studios in Shoreditch, London) to providing bendable straws, every event decision, big or small, was made based on the brand’s commitment to accessibility, and input from people with disabilities.
“Based on the success of the event and the feedback we’ve had since, we know that we have actually been able to make an amount of impact on people’s lives with the product,” says Kate Maunders, global head of marketing communications at Primark. “So the event was to launch the product, but the whole culmination of everything we’ve been doing in this space has been so much bigger than that.”
Primark and event agency partner onepointfive gleaned countless insights from the launch, so we compiled some key tips and best practices for hosting a truly accessible event.
STARTING WITH THE COMMUNITY
It may sound commonsensical, but planning an event that accommodates attendees with disabilities should include guidance from members of that group. That’s one of the tactics Primark employed while developing its launch strategy, and the brand was ultimately struck by how challenging the community finds it to take part in traditional events. That made it critical to heed and apply their feedback.
“It was really important to us to make sure that every single part of that event was grounded and anchored in the community,” Maunders says. “First and foremost, the overarching objective was to create one of the first truly accessible events for the first accessible and adaptive clothing range, and to make sure every single person invited to that event felt seen, heard, represented, and had the smoothest day they possibly could—and that we facilitated that.”
To engineer its accessible clothing line, Primark worked alongside experts like adaptive fashion designer and disability advocate Victoria Jenkins, and expert and activist Dr. Shani Dhanda. Maunders recommends that marketers take the same approach to their events.
“We were humble and put our hands up and said, ‘We are not the experts in this space. We’re not even going to try and be. And we’ve engaged the right people,’” she says. “So that would be my first tip: You don’t know what you don’t know, so go and find people who do.”
VETTING VENUES
Companies often select event locations and venues based on what they’re hoping to accomplish, but Primark began with its audience. The brand considered where attendees would be coming from, how far they might have to travel and, importantly, if there were accessible Tube stations equipped with elevators in the area.
During this process, Primark and its partners discovered that while some venues claim to be fully accessible, those spaces require further vetting to ensure that that’s actually the case. For instance, there may be stairs to get up into the venue or an elevator than can only fit one wheelchair at a time. It’s those kinds of details that can make or break an experience for a person with a disability.
Primark ultimately landed on Protein Studios as its venue, which includes an accessible transport and drop-off area, a step-free ground floor, accessible restrooms, and wide exits and escape routes, among features.
Beyond the event space itself, the brand also meticulously crafted seating and lounge arrangements within the venue that included varying table heights, soft seating and chairs with and without armrests to accommodate different needs. There was also a dedicated quiet room for neurodiverse attendees who felt overstimulated.
DISPLAYS & PRESENTATIONS
Every display, installation and speech presented at the event was crafted with attendees’ needs in mind. Tactile clothing displays were suspended at low levels for attendees to engage with; font sizes were considered for maximum legibility; a PA system was available for speeches to ensure presentations were clearly heard; TV content featured sound and captions in BSL (British Sign Language); screens were set to a seated height; mannequins were shown standing, seated and with additional accessibility props; and event colors were carefully selected to prevent overstimulation.
Primark also paid close attention to how a/v was used throughout the space, and ensured that there was adequate lighting throughout the footprint, background music was maintained at a low volume, and the playlist was kept simple and upbeat.
INJECTING JOY
With so many details to consider, brands looking to create fully accessible events may be inclined to focus solely on getting that aspect of the experience right. But an event is still an event. It still needs to be injected with the energy and joy that make people want to attend in the first place. And that shouldn’t be an afterthought, the brand says.
For Primark, creating a jubilant experience was of the utmost importance, given where its audience was coming from. According to Maunders, many people with disabilities feel that fashion holds them back and restricts them from certain freedoms, rather than providing an avenue for self-expression like it does for consumers without disabilities. With its new adaptive clothing range, Primark had flipped the script, and the launch needed to celebrate that.
“The joy element of fashion and freedom and comfort was so important for the clothing range, and therefore, it was so important that the event echoed that,” says Maunders.
F&B CONSIDERATIONS
For some people with disabilities, having certain catering options available can mean the difference between eating and drinking on their own, and requiring assistance or special tools to do so. It’s those kinds of intricacies that Primark wanted to nail down so that attendees could enjoy a seamless f&b experience. Among catering touchpoints at the launch were a variety of cup shapes and sizes, bendable straws, tray service, bite-size canapés and grazing bites that didn’t require flatware, and a variety of table heights.
Maunders recalls the first time Primark brought in a model with a disability for a photo shoot. The model requested a bendable straw, which allowed her to drink water on-set, unassisted, from her wheelchair. Without the straw, she would need a specialty bottle. It was an eye-opening moment for the team, and a source of inspiration for them moving forward.
“There are so many details,” Maunders says. “You are never going to get it right the first time. And I think that’s something that so many people are scared of. Again, Primark as a brand is not going to get this right the first, second, third time, but we are trying, and every single time, we are adapting and learning. So the first time we ever engaged and had a model in a seated wheelchair, they were not able to use a glass; we didn’t have a bendy straw. But we sure as hell do now.”
STAYING CONSISTENT
The accessible clothing launch was the first of its kind for Primark, but it’ll hardly be the last. All of the lessons learned while planning and executing the event will be applied to future brand experiences, whether the whole audience, or one attendee, needs accommodating. The team has compiled a checklist of requirements that it will apply to every event going forward to ensure Primark is furthering its commitment to accessibility across its business.
“We have an authority in this space that we can now speak to,” Maunders says. “And we want to ensure that isn’t just a one-and-done for an adaptive launch and an event—that that actually becomes consistent for us.”
Photo credit: Natasha Hirst
